1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed to a hand held sensor for acoustic data acquisition in medical diagnosis, and more particularly, a sensor having a cursor control for a position-indicating display.
2. Description of Related Art
Stethoscopes are relied upon for acoustic diagnosis in medicine, in particular, for the diagnosis of cardiovascular disease. However, stethoscopes have limited functionality, both in design and implementation. The stethoscope itself transfers only a small fraction of the acoustic signal at the chest surface to the listener""s ears, and filters the cardiac acoustic signal in the process.
In particular, with respect to auscultation of the heart, much of the signal energy in many heart sounds is below the threshold of human hearing. This situation is compounded by the degradation of the listener""s hearing which can be associated with, for example, age and/or exposure to excessive noise. Auscultation also relies on correctly determining which of the primary heart sounds correspond with the systolic and diastolic phase of the heart, which is made more difficult when the systolic and diastolic intervals are more equal, typically at elevated heart rates. Auscultation also relies on detecting the correct sequence of brief events occurring close in time, something that is difficult for human listeners.
Learning auscultation is also difficult because diagnostic instructional manuals rely on subjective descriptions of heart sounds, which need practice to appreciate. Furthermore, the practice and teaching of the clinical skill of auscultation of the heart has declined among physicians, this is partly due to non-reimbursement policies of providers or insurers. Recent tests have demonstrated that physicians can identify, reliably, only a small number of standard heart sounds and murmurs. Consequently, serious heart murmurs in many patients go undetected by physicians.
In addition, the decline in auscultation skills has led to an over-reliance on echocardiography, resulting in a large number of unnecessary and expensive diagnostic studies.
Therefore, a need exists for an acoustic data acquisition device for use in medical diagnosis.
According to an embodiment of the present invention, an acoustic signal sensing apparatus is provided. The acoustic signal sensing apparatus includes a housing having an apertured posterior and a plurality of studs, an acoustic sensing unit, wherein a portion of the sensing unit is located within the housing, and a telemetry sensor connected to the sensing unit and a data processor.
At least one stud is an electrode providing a temporal reference signal detectable by the acoustic sensing unit. The studs contact the patient and support the housing. The studs substantially resist involuntary lateral movement of the housing. The plurality of studs is at least three. The studs can extend from the posterior. The studs can extend through the posterior. The studs can be connected to the posterior.
The acoustic sensing unit senses a cardiovascular signal.
According to an embodiment of the present invention, an apparatus for sensing an acoustic signal is provided including a housing means having an apertured posterior and a plurality of studs. The apparatus includes a sensing unit means for interfacing a patient by contact with the patient and capturing the acoustic signal, wherein a portion of the sensing unit means is located within the housing. The apparatus further includes a telemetry sensor means connected to the sensing unit means for communicating the acoustic signal and a position of the sensing unit means with respect to the patient to a data processor means.
At least one stud is an electrode providing a temporal reference signal detectable by the sensing unit means. The studs contact the patient and support the housing means. The studs substantially resist involuntary lateral movement of the housing means. The plurality of studs is at least three. Each stud can extend from the posterior, through the posterior, or be connected to the posterior.
The sensing unit means senses a cardiovascular signal.
According to an embodiment of the present invention, an acoustic signal sensing apparatus is provided. The apparatus includes a housing having an apertured posterior and three studs wherein at least one stud is an electrode providing a temporal reference signal and a sensing unit contacting a patient and capturing an acoustic cardiovascular signal and the temporal reference signal, wherein a portion of the sensing unit is located within the housing. The apparatus further includes a telemetry sensor connected to the sensing unit, communicating the acoustic signal, the temporal reference signal, and a position of the sensing unit with respect to the patient to a data processor.